Countering Christian Perfectionism

When we look clearly at the entirety of redemptive history, we see that God has established an unmistakable pattern. Desiring to give His children hope as they await the consummation of His plan, God has provided foretastes of the reality that will one day be – the rescue of Noah and his family, Abraham and Isaac, the Passover, Solomon’s temple, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and on and on. All of these truly point to the absolute goodness we will one day enjoy with our Creator, but in and of themselves, they are mere shadows of what’s to come. As we consider the call to holiness, we must view this within God’s established pattern. While yet remaining in these tents of fallen flesh, we are called to a life of holiness – to pursue God and obey Him with all of our ability – but in this state, also acknowledging, at times through great failure, our abiding need of His amazing grace. We will be looking at the various views of perfectionism throughout the history of the Church, and more importantly, the prevailing views of our own day. These we will contrast with the Word of God that we might be both exhorted and comforted as we pursue Him who first pursued us.